Trading shots: Lawmakers differ on Aussie Open vaccinations

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — The back-and-forth debate over unvaccinated tennis players being allowed to contest the Australian Open in January heightened Wednesday with the prime minister and a state political leader trading shots on points of difference.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison restarted the rally when he indicated in television interviews that unvaccinated tennis players would be allowed to get exemptions to enter the country provided they undergo two weeks in hotel quarantine.

Victoria state premier Daniel Andrews went on the front foot, telling reporters in Melbourne he wouldn’t be applying for exemptions for unvaccinated players.

Victoria hosts the Australian Open at Melbourne Park and has a mandatory vaccination policy for athletes competing in domestic leagues. The Andrews government has imposed months of lockdowns on the people of Victoria and is only starting to re-open after the public reached high targets for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Morrison's move Wednesday to clarify his federal government's stance on the international border came a week after his immigration minister suggested there’d be a no-jab, no-visa policy for players at the Jan. 17-30 Grand Slam event.

Morrison told Australian television networks there are exemptions to the long-term COVID-19 pandemic international border protection rules for those who qualify under skilled worker or economic benefit criteria.

“If there is a special exemption that is warranted for an economic reason, well, that can happen," he said. “But you’ve got to follow the health rules in that state — and two weeks' quarantine for unvaccinated people, well, that’s sensible,” Morrison told Australia's Nine network.

Morrison said the ultimate decision on the Australian Open regulations was for the state of Victoria, which...